Protective Headgear System

ABSTRACT

A protective headgear system includes protective headgear worn upon a head of a first user, a sensor physically coupled to the protective headgear, an audio device and a controller. The sensor measures an angular position of the protective headgear and detects an impact involving the protective headgear. The audio device selectively emits a sound based on the angular position of the protective headgear. The controller generates impact information by analyzing the impact and determining a susceptibility of the first user to a concussion.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/717,188, which was filed on Aug. 10, 2018 and titled “Protective Headgear System”. The entire content of this application is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of Head Impact Telemetry (HIT). More specifically, the present invention addresses concussions sustained by individuals, particularly children and youth who play contact sports during the most critical years of their development.

Playing sports is considered to be one of the most common causes of concussions, particularly among younger children (ages 8 and younger) who are still growing, less coordinated and have slower reaction times than adults. Varying maturity rates (resulting in differences in height and weight) amongst children playing together increases the risk of injury.

Concussions, defined as the temporary loss of normal brain function resulting from an internal head injury, can cause permanent brain damage with repeated occurrences. Determining or understanding the seriousness of an injury is difficult. Some internal head injuries can be serious and potentially life-threatening, causing torn blood vessels, a broken skull bone or even damage to the brain itself.

U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0216247 discloses impact-reducing protective headgear that includes magnetic material configured to reduce the impact of a collision to the head of a wearer. A similar system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,860,570, which is directed to a portable, wireless, personal-head-impact reporting system comprising a mobile communication device capable of sensing, analyzing and reporting a collection event experienced by a person. U.S. Pat. No. 9,032,558 discloses a helmet system that protects a user from sustaining concussions and other head injuries. These patent documents are incorporated herein by reference.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention employs an accelerometer device, embedded in headgear, that can detect impact due to force and change in elevation, monitoring, measuring and assessing the wearer's susceptibility to a concussion should they receive a blow to the head. Depending on the impact, a message is automatically sent to an application on a parent's mobile device or tablet.

Specifically, in the present invention, an accelerometer is embedded in a sports helmet equipped with motion sensors, a processor and a transmitter. The device can be used for both training and official gameplay utilizing Adafruit IO™. In the training scenario, should a child position his head at an angle deemed unsafe, a bell or beep will sound inside the helmet, reminding him to raise his head. Over time, the goal is that he will instinctively begin to recognize appropriate and proper positioning techniques and engage in safe contact.

During an actual game, the accelerometer measures the G-force, or magnitude of impact, along with the location, direction and duration of the hit. In a preferred form, the system also transmits a message remotely, such as to a parent's mobile phone, alerting and informing them how much force their child absorbed.

Additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to common parts in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an upper perspective view of a helmet of the present invention showing the main electronic components.

FIG. 2 is an upper perspective view of the helmet.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the helmet.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the helmet demonstrating tilting of the helmet relative to the horizontal plane.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention.

FIGS. 1-3 show a protective headgear system 100 constructed in accordance with the present invention. System 100 includes protective headgear 105 in the form of a sports helmet. In particular, protective headgear 105 is depicted as a football helmet. However, the present invention is usable with other types of helmets, such as those used for hockey. Protective headgear 105 includes a rigid exterior shell 110, a face mask 115 and interior padding (not visible), which together work to protect a person (i.e., a user or wearer) who is wearing protective headgear 105 on his or her head.

System 100 also includes a switch 120, a rechargeable battery 125, an audio device 130, a sensor 135 and a controller 140 that are physically coupled to protective headgear 105. These electronic components collectively make up an electrical system 145 of protective headgear system 100 and are connected by wiring 150. Electrical system 145 is located within exterior shell 110 to protect the components of system 145, although switch 120 is accessible via an opening 155 in exterior shell 110. Switch 120 is used to turn electrical system 145 on and off, while battery 125 provides power to system 145.

Audio device 130 is configured to selectively emit a sound that is audible to a user of protective headgear system 100, as will be discussed in more detail below. Audio device 130 is located within protective headgear 105, specifically within exterior shell 110, near where one of the user's ear will be to help ensure that the sound is audible to the user. If desired, an additional audio device can be located adjacent to the user's other ear. Also, rather than using wiring 150, the audio device can be connected wirelessly to the rest of electrical system 145 and placed in the user's ear. Preferably, electrical system 145 includes an amplifier (not shown) that boosts the signal for audio device 130.

Sensor 135 is configured to detect an impact involving protective headgear 105. Sensor 135 is also configured to measure an angular position of protective headgear 105. To accomplish this, sensor 135 is preferably constituted by an accelerometer and a gyroscope (not separately labeled). Accordingly, it should be recognized that, in a more general sense, sensor 135 is configured to measure acceleration and orientation.

Controller 140 is configured to use data from sensor 135 to generate impact information by analyzing an impact to protective headgear 105 and determining the susceptibility of the wearer to a concussion. Preferably, this analysis takes into account some or all of the magnitude, location, direction and duration of the impact. Controller 140 includes a transmitter (not separately labeled) that is configured to transmit the impact information to a computer of another user, e.g., to a smartphone or tablet of a parent or guardian.

In one embodiment, a LSM6DS3 inertial measurement unit (IMU) from STMicroelectronics® is employed as sensor 135, and controller 140 is the Adafruit® Feather™ MO WiFi microcontroller. The LSM6DS3 IMU includes an accelerometer and a gyroscope with an 8 kb FIFO buffer and embedded processing interrupt functions. The LSM6DS3 IMU enables the detection of shocks, tilt, motion, taps and step counts and is capable of reading accelerometer data up to 6.7 kS/s and gyroscope data up to 1.7 kS/s for more accurate movement sensing. The LSM6DS3 IMU also has the ability to buffer up to 8 kB of data between reads, host other sensors and drive interrupt pins due to the built-in FIFO. Each pin has been broken out on the LSM6DS3 IMU, with one side of the board featuring power and I2C functionality and the other side featuring pins that control SPI functionality and interrupt outputs.

With reference now to FIG. 4, a forward axis 400 and a tilt limit 405 are illustrated. Forward axis 400 represents the forward axis of system 100, particularly of protective headgear 105. Protective headgear 105 is level in FIG. 4, such that forward axis 400 is horizontal. When a wearer tilts his or head downward, forward axis 400 rotates downward in a direction 410. If forward axis 400 rotates beyond tilt limit 405, audio device 130 emits a sound, as discussed above. Preferably, this functionality is controlled by controller 140.

Tilt limit 405 is selected to reduce the risk of the wearer sustaining an injury, such as a concussion, by reminding the wearer, via the sound, to keep his or her head in a safer, more upright position. Tilt limit 405 is essentially a preset angle, defined relative to horizontal and/or vertical for example, to which forward axis 400 can be compared using data from the gyroscope of sensor 135.

Based on the above, it should be readily apparent that the present invention has particular applicability in addressing concussions sustained by children and youth who play contact sports. While certain preferred embodiments of the present invention have been set forth, it should be understood that various changes or modifications could be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In general, the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following claims. 

1. A protective headgear system comprising: protective headgear configured to be worn upon a head of a user; a sensor physically coupled to the protective headgear, wherein the sensor is configured to 1) measure an angular position of the protective headgear and 2) detect an impact involving the protective headgear; an audio device configured to selectively emit a sound based on the angular position of the protective headgear; and a controller configured to generate impact information by analyzing the impact and determining a susceptibility of the user to a concussion.
 2. The protective headgear system of claim 1, wherein the audio device is configured to emit the sound when a front of the protective headgear is tilted downward beyond a preset angle.
 3. The protective headgear system of claim 2, wherein the preset angle is selected to reduce a risk of the user sustaining an injury.
 4. The protective headgear system of claim 1, wherein the audio device is physically coupled to the protective headgear and configured such that the sound is audible to the user.
 5. The protective headgear system of claim 1, further comprising a transmitter configured to transmit the impact information to a computer remote from the user.
 6. The protective headgear system of claim 5, wherein the controller is part of the computer.
 7. The protective headgear system of claim 1, wherein analyzing the impact includes analyzing at least one of a magnitude, location, direction and duration of the impact.
 8. The protective headgear system of claim 7, wherein analyzing the impact includes analyzing each of the magnitude, location, direction and duration of the impact.
 9. The protective headgear system of claim 1, wherein the sensor includes at least one of an accelerometer and a gyroscope.
 10. The protective headgear system of claim 9, wherein the sensor includes each of the accelerometer and gyroscope.
 11. The protective headgear system of claim 1, wherein the protective headgear includes a rigid exterior shell.
 12. The protective headgear system of claim 11, wherein the protective headgear is a football helmet.
 13. A protective headgear system comprising: protective headgear configured to be worn upon a head of a user; a sensor physically coupled to the protective headgear, wherein the sensor is configured to measure an angular position of the protective headgear; and an audio device configured to selectively emit a sound based on the angular position of the protective headgear.
 14. The protective headgear system of claim 13, wherein the audio device is configured to emit the sound when a front of the protective headgear is tilted downward beyond a preset angle.
 15. The protective headgear system of claim 14, wherein the preset angle is selected to reduce a risk of the user sustaining an injury.
 16. The protective headgear system of claim 15, wherein the audio device is physically coupled to the protective headgear and configured such that the sound is audible to the user.
 17. A method of protecting a user with a protective headgear system including protective headgear configured to be worn upon a head of the user, a sensor physically coupled to the protective headgear, an audio device and a controller, the method comprising: measuring, with the sensor, an angular position of the protective headgear; detecting, with the sensor, an impact involving the protective headgear; selectively emitting a sound, with the audio device, based on the angular position of the protective headgear; and generating impact information, with the controller, by analyzing the impact and determining a susceptibility of the user to a concussion.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein selectively emitting the sound includes emitting the sound when a front of the protective headgear is tilted downward beyond a preset angle.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the preset angle is selected to reduce a risk of the user sustaining an injury.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein selectively emitting the sound includes emitting the sound such that the sound is audible to the user.
 21. The method of claim 17, wherein the protective headgear system further includes a transmitter, the method further comprising transmitting the impact information to a computer remote from the user with the transmitter. 